Multitasking

By Alton Lucas

So I am doing a story on multitaskers and find that I actually could not just focus on it without checking my email, changing the name on my Myspace page, sending a text and studying for my broadcast test. Our generation has been introduced to too many gadgets that have us constantly worrying about everything except for the task at hand.

"I think I get more work done while I am doing all of my homework at once instead of one assignment at a time," said fellow senior Nigel Rosser, who is currently an honor student. "It seems like I work a lot faster. I get bored when I am trapped behind a computer just doing an essay for English. When I am bored my brain doesn't function right. I can never think of a sentence that sticks to the subject that I am writing about." Rosser says that because of his short attention span, he'd rather do math homework while laying out a webpage so he can keep his thoughts fresh and ready.

Although Rosser feels this way, researchers did a study and the data show much different results. According to the American Psychological Association, two PhDs from the University of Michigan, David Meyer and Jeffrey Evans collaborated with Aviation Administration PhD Joshua Rubinstein to conduct a study on multitasking. Subjects were given a number of tasks which they were to complete without doing anything else, and then they were given the same tasks to complete while doing other tasks simultaneously. After tallying the data, the scientists agreed that the tasks were complete in less time and were of better quality when the subjects did not multitask.

Being a student who does a lot of multitasking, I have first hand experience of how it impacts my memory and how it is addictive, especially with accessible technology. Some say that you will have to learn to multitask if you want to be successful in life. If that's the case, I think that for McKinley students, it is a skill that we should try to develop later on in life. Most of us are not able to do more than one thing at a time and still produce quality. So, students, when you have the urge to check your webpage while doing homework, you should remember that it takes more time and produces less quality when you multitask.

By Anna Kinsman |  May 21, 2007; 10:05 AM ET Feature
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